Turn It Around On The Devil!
Job 1:6-12 ~ the living Bible ~ read it.
Job 1:19 And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. 20 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground and worshipped, 21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. 22 In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.
Job 2:1-6 ~ the living Bible ~ read it.
Job 2:7 So went satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.
8 And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes. 9 Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God, and die. 10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
I believe you see that satan was about his business with Job. Don’t you know that’s what he intends to do with each of us as well. He tries and tries to find our weaknesses and exploit them. But we, as children of God, need to see that yes in fact, we receive good and bad at the hand of God, however, the bad comes so that we can become strong in the Lord.
I believe that God knew Job’s frame, and God also knew it would be Job’s toughest trial, but he allowed evil to befall him, simply because God had faith in Job.
Yes, Job had faith in God, but I repeat, I believe that God had faith in Job, or He would have never had satan to ‘consider’ him.
It was like God was telling Job, “I believe in you, buddy! You can handle this!”
In our own lives, we go through much pain. Much adversity. But it is outlined in scripture that we would, so don’t act as if its such a surprise when it comes.
We need to be encouraged that it is like the situation with Job. God is simply letting us know that He believes in us, and that we will respond correctly, during the tests and trials of life!
With all that in mind, I want to address a powerful thought.
I. Its time to ‘turn it around’ on the devil!
You see, the devil doesn’t know how to tell the truth! It even says so in the Word: “For your adversary the devil, goes around to and fro, as a lion, seeking whom he may devour”
As A Lion ~ mocking, or acting like a lion.
He may devour ~ who will let him devour them.
We need not forget that 2000 years ago, that old lion was defanged, and declawed, when Christ marched through hell and picked up the keys to death, hell, and the grave.
We don’t need to be intimidated by the devil, we need to begin to intimidate him!
Here’s a truth you don’t need to forget! Since the devil cannot tell the TRUTH, you need to know that what he’s telling you is a lie!
Reminds me of the military movie with Jack Nicholson, and Tom Cruise; “A Few Good Men”
“The truth, you can’t handle the truth!”
“Devil, you can’t handle the truth!”
The devil can’t handle the truth! He can’t tell it, and he definitely cannot handle it, so turn it around on him and tell him the truth! Remind him where he’s headed!
· When the devil says you’re gonna die,
· Tell Him, Hey devil, here’s the truth! “I’m not going to die, I’m going to live!
Quote Psalm 118:17 “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord!”
It’s high time some people in this house stand to their feet and say with excited assurance;
“deceiver of my soul, I’m going to live! I’m going to live!”
¨ It’s time for your dreams to be resurrected!
¨ It’s time for your families to be restored!
¨ It’s time for our vision to become a reality!
¨ It’s time for our future to become the present!
¨ It’s time for our ordinary to turn into the extraordinary!
¨ It’s time to turn it around on the devil!
Touch 3 people and tell them;
“What are you waiting for? Go on! Turn it around on the devil!”
II. Don’t play catch with the devil!
¨ The devil will lie to you.
¨ He’ll lie to you about people!
¨ He’ll lie to you about church.
¨ He’ll even lie to you about your pastor.
¨ Hint: He even lies to pastors about the members too!
He’ll try and get you so mad at people that you’ll lose your sanctification, and he’ll be in the background laughing and making fun of you!
Anytime the devil hurls something at you, you don’t have to catch it.
¨ He’s not your friend,
¨ He’s not your confidant,
¨ he’s the enemy!
Get out your spiritual bat, (the Holy Spirit) and knock that lie over the fence and out of your life!
Knock it back at that old negative talking, joy-stealing, victory-thieving adversary!
Anytime you get that ‘stinkin’ thinkin’ goin’ on, recognize where its from,
¨ and just turn it around and tell the devil get behind me!
When you play in to that thought of getting even with a fellow man, you better know that’s not God, that’s the devil, and that’s “stinkin’ thinkin’” for sure!
When you stew about that thing that ‘just didn’t go right’, you better know it’s the enemy trying to get your focus all out of whack.”
The devils playground is the mind. Don’t forget that. If you let him in, he’ll wreak havoc in your thoughts and actions, and before you know it, you’ll get back to doing those things from the old man, and you’ll be:
¨ Fussin’ at everything and everyone coming and going!
¨ Cussin’ like a sailor again.
¨ Smokin’ like a freight train, because you’re so “stressed out that you had to do something to calm your nerves”
¨ Lyin’ like nobody’s business, cause you are making excuses about all that sinning that you’ve started doing again.
Let me remind you of something:
Holiness is still a part of Christian living!
Holiness and Christianity are supposed to work hand in hand!
¨ 1 Peter 1:15,16 “ but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.””
¨ Ephesians 5:8 “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.”
¨ Romans 12:1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”
Do you really think God would be sitting back cussing, or telling dirty jokes, or making crude comments?
How about sitting back on the throne puffing on a Marlboro?
Don’t even think so!
The Word of God says:
¨ Ephesians 5:1 “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.”
All that kind of stuff comes back because you have given the devil too much play in your life and your mind!
Somebody say that’s right, pastor!
Don’t fall prey to the devil’s lies,
and go back to the old man!
It’s time for somebody to
“turn it around on the devil!”
Tell him, “I’m not gonna listen to you any more. I’m turning your lies around on you!”
¨ I don’t fuss like that! God’s giving me gentleness!
¨ I don’t talk like that! God’s giving me self-control!
¨ I don’t want that cigarette anymore! God’s giving me wisdom!
¨ I don’t need to lie about it anymore! God’s giving me peace!
“ I’m gonna turn it around right in your face devil!”
III. There’s powerful truth in speaking IN to a situation.
You can agree with the devil, or go against him. Your choice.
The power of agreement works that way.
When you give in to the devil, you are speaking life in to negativism, doubt, unbelief, even discord.
When you oppose the devil, you are speaking life/faith into your situation, and by speaking faith, “faith moves God.”
Let’s go back to Job for a minute. Do you remember in Job where Mrs. Job tells Mr. Job to, well, let’s go to the scripture:
Job 2:9,10 Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God, and die. 10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh.
Does that sound like some of us today?
For many of us, it doesn’t even take us losing our family, house, livestock, and everything we own, it just takes us stumping our toe, and we’re ready to throw in the towel, even without having someone beside us that is supposed to help, telling us to just give up! Lay down and die!
But check it out! Job 2:10 “But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh.”
In today’s language, I think Job says this:
HAVE YOU LOST YOUR EVER-LOVING MIND? WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? WE’RE TALKING ABOUT GOD ALMIGHTY HERE! CURSE HIM AND DIE?
Get ready, here is the clincher!
Hang on to your seat!
I believe Job is saying to his dear, loving, positive thinking wife,
“If I can curse God and die, then I can bless God and Live!”
You’ve got to turn it around on the devil, folks!
He just can’t tell the truth!
Whatever he tries to tell you, take the opposite!
¨ If it hurts someone, know its from the devil, and tell him, “no thanks, I’ll bless my brother/sister instead!”
¨ If its health related, “Nope. I’m gonna be alright. By the way, devil, get out of my mind.”
¨ If its finance related, remind the devil, “ha ha! The wealth of the wicked is laid up for the righteous!”
¨ If its church related, tell the devil, “The gates of hell shall not prevail against the church, so go on and leave!”
¨ If its emotions, tell the devil, “This vessel is the Lords, now get your hands off!”
Whatever the situation may be, if the thought, action or reaction is going to be against the nature of God, then TURN IT AROUND, BECAUSE IT CAME FROM THE DEVIL!”
